1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems for wall mounting objects, and more particularly to a vertically adjustable bracket which is slidably mounted in a track secured to the wall or other vertical surface.
Electronic equipment such as biomedical monitoring equipment, television receivers, and other equipment having visual displays which must be located to provide convenient visual access for the user, are usually mounted on shelves or tables which may or may not be specially designed to support the equipment. Often the equipment is not fastened to the surface of the shelf or table and is prone to falling off because of accidental pushing, vibration caused by nearby equipment, and the like. Moreover, placement on a shelf often limits visual access to the equipment and the ability to reposition the equipment on the shelf is usually very limited. Even in the case of mobile tables or carts, it is usually difficult or impossible to vertically adjust the height of the equipment over a wide range. For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide a wall-mounting system for objects, usually electronic equipment, where the vertical position of the object is easily adjustable and where the object may be easily aligned with the line of sight of the user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fixed wall brackets have long been available for supporting electronic equipment such as monitoring equipment and television receivers. Although such fixed brackets avoid the problem of falling associated with shelves and carts, they suffer from other drawbacks. Most notably, the position of the equipment is fixed and the angle of viewing cannot easily be changed. If the room in which the equipment is used is rearranged, it will often be necessary to remount the equipment on an entirely new bracket so that the visual output will be properly aligned. Moreover, servicing of the electronic equipment mounted on fixed brakets is difficult, often requiring that the equipment be taken down from a relatively high location.
To overcome the problems associated with such fixed wall brackets, a vertically adjustable wall bracket having the capability of adjustably aligning the electronic equipment mounted thereon has been developed. Such systems are available from the GCX Corporation of San Rafael, Calif., under the tradenames PolyMount biomedical monitor mounting systems and PolyQuip equipment rail systems.
The operative features of each of these systems are generally the same and are illustrated in FIG. 1. An elongate track 10 is mounted on a wall or other vertical surface to define a vertical path. A vertically adjustable bracket arm 12 includes a slide 14 at one end which travels up and down in the track 10. The slide 14 is frictionally retained within the track 10. A particular tilt mechanism is located at the opposite end of the bracket arm 12 and comprises a cylindrical plug 16 received through a pair of circular, aligned holes 18 through the bracket arm 12. The plug 16 includes an axial, cylindrical passage 20 which is radially offset from the central axis of the plug. A threaded shaft 22 is mounted in the cylindrical passage 20 and an internally threaded cylinder 23 engages the threaded shaft 22 at one end and is also located in the passage 20.
A second cylindrical passage 24 is transversely formed in the plug 16 and rotatably receives a cylinder 26 therethrough. The second passage 24 is oriented perpendicularly to the first passage 20, and both passages are interconnected by a third passage at 28, as illustrated. A lever 30 is inserted radially into the cylinder 26 and pivotally secured at its opposite end to the cylinder 23. Thus, by rotating the threaded shaft 22, the threaded cylinder 23 will be caused to translate within passage 20, turning lever 30 and rotating cylinder 26. The plug 16 remains able to rotate within the hole 18 regardless of the position of the cylinder 26.
A mounting plate 32 or other support for the equipment is mounted on the cylinder 26 for attachment of the electronic equipment. The electronic equipment may thus be visually aligned as desired by rotating the plug 16 in the hole 18 and also tilting the cylinder 26 as described hereinbefore.
The apparatus just described is generally functional, although it suffers from certain drawbacks. In particular, the mounting of the bracket 32 on the cylinder 26 has been found particularly weak, limiting the weight of any apparatus to be mounted thereon. Moreover, the device must be secured to the plate 32 by a plurality of screws, which makes removing the device inconvenient and time consuming. Further, the lever 30 must be confined within the plug 16 and is therefore very limited as to its length, causing the leverage ratio of the objects weight translated to the lever 30 the cylinders 23 and threaded shaft 22 to be exceedingly high causing considerable stress to these and other parts of the assembly.